On June 18, Manitoba Hydro conducted a Round 2 open house in Winnipeg to provide information and receive feedback on the proposed BiPole 3 major hydro corridor. CPAWS commends MB Hydro for following our suggestions to post their open house displays and comments sheet online and to hold open houses at locations that are more convenient for citizens to attend – the initial open house was in St. Norbert, the latest one was at the Holiday Inn on Pembina, close to McGillvary Blvd. We believe MB Hydro could do even better by designing their online comment sheet so it can be sent digitally from their website, rather than having to print it and mail it by post. Also, to maximize the overall convenience for Winnipeggers and therefore boost participation, CPAWS maintains our more specific recommendation that MB Hydro conduct their Winnipeg open houses at well-known downtown facilities.
- Manitoba Hydro BiPole 3 – Round 2 open house display slides - Click here (PDF)
- Manitoba Hydro's comment sheet (PDF) - Click here (PDF)
- Manitoba Hydro BiPole 3 page - Click here
Make your comments known! Please send all comments to Manitoba Hydro at: bipole3@hydro.mb.ca
CPAWS is thrilled to share with you that today, June 9, Environment Minister Jim Prentice and former Grand Chief of Dehcho First Nations Gerald Antoine have announced final boundaries for the expansion of Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories. This news is a great victory for CPAWS and for Canadian wilderness conservation. With today's announcement, over 30,000 sq km of the South Nahanni watershed -- an area the size of Vancouver Island - will be permanently protected in a national park reserve!
For more information about today's announcement, please visit www.cpaws.org/nahanni
The Ontario government introduced new legislation that would allow for the permanent protection of at least half of the 450,000 square kilometres that makes up the northern Boreal Forest region of Ontario -- one of the last great, undeveloped spaces on our planet. CPAWS Manitoba joins its colleagues in Ontario, Wildlands League, in applauding this important next step taken by Ontario. CPAWS Manitoba also hopes the Manitoba government will soon join the impressive ‘Boreal Leaders’ club and make its own spectacular protection commitment. Both Quebec and Ontario have made commitments to protect 50% or more of their Boreal Regions.
“The proposed Far North Act would place Ontario among world leaders in boreal protection and represent the largest land protection commitment in North America to fight climate change,” Ontario Minister Donna Cansfield said in that province’s legislature yesterday. “It would also set the stage for carefully managed sustainable resource development in the far north, with the requirement that development benefit local First Nations and take into consideration ecological and cultural values,” Minister Cansfield added. “Those words are music to my ears,” says Ron Thiessen, Executive Director of CPAWS Manitoba. “If only we could hear Premier Doer announce a made-in-Manitoba plan to protect more than half of Manitoba’s Boreal Region, then I would be absolutely thrilled, over the moon in fact,” Thiessen dreamed.
Manitoba’s Boreal Forest region is part of a globally significant intact ecosystem. It is at the heart of the largest terrestrial storehouse of carbon on the planet and it shields us all from the dangerous impacts of climate change. CPAWS Manitoba urges the Manitoba government to take that first step and commit to an incredible vision of more than 50% Boreal protection. Thiessen exclaimed, “Manitoba is blessed with a chance to unite with our neighbours in Ontario to establish the largest interconnected protected areas network on the planet!”
I commend our provincial government and Manitoba Hydro for their commitment to keep the proposed major hydro corridor away from the intact boreal forest on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.
The assertion that a hydro line and an all-weather road would follow the same route on the east side of Lake Winnipeg has no basis in reality. Roads and hydro corridors have different terrain requirements and public access to transmission lines would be a security risk and increase disturbance to wildlife.
It’s also clear that east side communities will not receive any long term benefits from a major hydro pathway. Local communities would be unable to utilize power from the lines and any jobs created would be short-term positions such as putting up poles and clearing forest. Manitoba Hydro has stated quite clearly that sharing ownership of transmission lines is out of the question. Legal obligations with other utilities in Canada and the United States prevent this possibility.
The involved east side First Nations and the province are taking the right approach by pursuing a World Heritage Site on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. This designation will put the area on the world map as an international destination for eco and cultural tourism – two of the fastest growing industries in the world. As a major hydro corridor would provide little economic or social benefits to the communities and would negatively affect the environment and emerging tourism industry, it would reduce the chances of the east side being approved by the U.N. as a World Heritage Site.
Constructing a major hydro corridor elsewhere in the province may cost more initially but the long-term payback of keeping it away from the east side will far outweigh this factor. Local communities will have more opportunity for social, cultural, and economic benefits with a World Heritage Site and a communities-approved road that meets the best environmental standards possible.
Of great importance, the east side of Lake Winnipeg is part of the Earth’s largest intact section of boreal forest. The boreal forest is the world’s largest source of fresh water, the northern lungs of the planet, and as the largest terrestrial storehouse of carbon, it plays a huge role in slowing the advance of climate change. These ecological services are life-sustaining and essential to the healthy future of all life.
Sopia Rabliauskas
The Manitoba government and Sophia Rabliauskas, on behalf of the First Nation-initiated World Heritage Site nomination, announced $531,000 in new provincial funding to support efforts to achieve the prestigious international designation and help east side communities develop their land use plans.
CPAWS commends participating First Nations and the Manitoba government for this effort to place the east side of Lake Winnipeg on the world stage as a model of environmental and cultural protection in concert with sustainable tourism opportunities.
World Heritage Site map - click to enlarge (1 MB)
Download the display boards from the Open Houses (PDF, 10MB):
- Comment Sheet - deadline May 31st
- Quickly send your opinion to the Manitoba government
The Manitoba government and the Tim Horton’s Foundation are proposing a kid’s camp on
Meditation Lake in Whiteshell provincial park. CPAWS is highly in favour of children experiencing and enjoying wilderness but the proposed location for the camp is unsuitable and the government’s antiquated approach to “developing-before-planning” is being heavily criticized. CPAWS is opposing the location of the proposed Tim Horton’s kid’s camp for the following reasons:
- unnecessarily increasing access to an ecologically sensitive park wilderness area
- questionable water quality for swimming as the lake has been known to be covered with toxic algae blooms during summer months
- introducing this development proposal before the long overdue Whiteshell Park Management Plan is complete. In other words, a backwards approach of development before planning
- an unwillingness by the province to share all the requested information about the proposed project
For more information:
- Wilderness Committee Manitoba press release (PDF)
- Province unveils controversial wilderness camp
- Province, Tim Hortons outline plans for Meditation Lake camp
- Cottagers question Tim's camp costs
- Tim's defends camp plan
- Tim's camp in bad taste: critics
- Group finds Whiteshell clams dying
Proposed Tim Horton Kid’s Camp
The Manitoba government and the Tim Horton’s Foundation are proposing a kid’s camp on Meditation Lake in Whiteshell provincial park. CPAWS is highly in favour of children experiencing and enjoying wilderness but the proposed location for the camp is unsuitable and the government’s antiquated approach to “developing-before-planning” is being heavily criticized.
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